Felt hardening machine



Nov. 4, 1952 B. FREYER ET AL 2,616,153

FELT HARDENING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 E ON hm Be/a H'eyer 6M6erf J Sanford I N VEN TORS BY I Nov. 4, 1952 B. FREYER ETAL 2,616,153

FELT HARDENING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Be/a fi'eyer Nov. 4, 1952 B. FREYER ETAL 2,616,153

FELT HARDENING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Be/a Freger Gl/ber/ Jan/0m INVENTORJ Bi K7, M... M M

Nov. 4, 1952 B. FREYER ETAL FELT HARDENING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 8, 1950 Gl/be/f J Sari/0rd INVENTORJ Patented Nov. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,616,153 Fan'r HARDENING acrame 'BelatEreyer, zflornwall-on-Hudson, and Gilbert J. :.Sanlord..Newh rs essi ner tnmet can elt. Com any, G e vi e, Conn, ra-c rporavtion Massachusetts Application September 8, 1950,;Serial No. 183,834

--Webs are combined toxforma feltbatt. This batt may consist of, any desired "thickness: of vcarded fibres or webs joinedall inthe. samedirectionsueh as:lengthwiseofthepiece, or in difierentdirections,

such as crosswise of and. lengthwise of the piece.

The. resultant batt; is-. a gpieceof material .in. which the webs have-beenjoined but which has: practically to vtensile strength because the :fibres comprising the. individual webs have-not been: intermingled and .interjoined through felting. next te in the-process.ofsmaking-felti-is to. cause i 1 these fibres to intermingle and 'interjoin :to .form

The

a homogeneous relatiuely-solid and strong piece of material generally termed in .thevart-asia hardened batt. orunfnlled felt. Theprocess of transforming therrelatively flimsyi'batt' into the stronger .more densely .packed' batt is commonly 'lmownin the; art ashardening and isaccomplished .by subjecting the. battto pressure, heat; and moisture :while. atrthe same; timeapplying to it a .re- -.ci procating or vibratory motion which may be rotary or may:be:;transverse towthelengthqof the I batt.

Incommercial; practicetwo types. of -:-machines have been employed to performthishardeningof yardage :felts.

One type, which-may be. termed. a platen hardenenccmprisesabed arrangedwtoqsupnortia section of the battjbetween conveyor. apronsand. a

relatirelygheayy plate which maybe lowered on that section-f the; bath and presseddownth r upon at thesameztime moying in areciprocatory manner either inaidirec ion back-and forth a ross the batt or ma circular' .motion. -;Whi1e.the sec- :tionyof the batt is being subjectedtothis pressure nd r eirrocatorym tio :it-.. s; also. subjecte to heat. and moisture. .When one section of the batt has b ensubie e t thisa tion for a 's fticie t :p r o f t me, th plate is. l ft d andzth/e .batt

' ades ago. Generally in this type of machine the batt is continuouslyfed betweenmultiple setsof heated rollers and in passing through them is subjected to pressure, heat-moisture and areciprocatory motion.

"Despite 'the fact that the roller typev machine has -an; obviou d n a eover then eis type in reins on inuous in opera on ts, hi o y i t r s, not oneof succe s- F om tim t t m Since its. introduct on attem t d v mfim a be nzmad i it li sign-an cons u ion an m ctu e s have e er insta le th i prov rolle machme nl t fin th t the problem of .satisfactq ope a on ha n t b solved a d t band n th ro e m n f r the ol in mitt nt mti s pl t m chines or at best to use the roller machines only as an adjunct to the platenmachine.

Among the most serious difficulties that have been co n ere in t 1. 56 rol er har e machine u nr y rda -fe t i t Pa h been the uneven quality of felt produced, the failure to accomplish sufiicient hardening in one run and th attendan nec ss ty run i the felt through the hardener several times, inability to harden more than one batt at a time, and main- ;t nanc Pr m genera l cause 'b excessive vibrationres ltine i w a .o t Operating parts such as the rollers thus exaggerating the defect of producing yardage felt of uneven quality.

n. e e lt isamon h obj t of the present invention. to provide a felt roller hardener machine for yardage felts in which the above mentioned disadvantages and defects are overcome and to provide a practical felt roller hardener machine which is capable of producinga product iofeyen quality in a continuous manner at a high rate of production andwhichisdesigned to minimize operating and maintenance, dilficulties.

More pecifical1y among the objects and advantages of this invention are:

'lio-providev a. roller hardener machine which is capable of increased hardening efiiciency over the felt, hardeners of the. prior art To providea rollerhardener machine in which full width batts can be successfully hardened by the machine at a greatly increased speed. over those of the. prior art;

To provide a roller hardener machine. through which; a plurality of separate batts can be. passed and successfully hardened simultaneously;

To provide a roller hardener machine. in which adjustments may be readily made for the satisf actory hardening of hatts of. varying thicknesses and of dilierent kinds of fibres;

To. provideza roller hardener machine in which the battto be hardened is conveyed by meansv of endless conveyor aprons or otherwise through a set-of, rolers, each settcomprising a. plurality of upper rollerssand a plurality ofl'ower rollers,v and has pressure applied to it by pneumatic or. hy-

draulic force operating vertically on the lower rollers in an upward direction;

To provide a roller hardener machine in which the upper rollers move in a reciprocating manner in a direction parallel to their axes and in which said rollers are positively locked against any motion in any other direction except rotation about their respective axes;

To provide a roller hardener machine in which the rollers are incapable of rocking;

To provide a roller hardener machine which the upper rollers are locked against vertical displacement;

To provide a roller hardener machine in which the upper rollers reciprocate in a direction parallel to their axes at a relatively high speed and in which there is included means insulatingthe rest Fig. 9 is an elevation showing the oscillating yoke with compensating springs and weight attached thereto for the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a detail showing of one of the compensating springs of Fig. 9 and its connections to the yoke and compensating weight;

Fig. 11 is a" cross-section 'on the line 'of Fig. 9 looking-in the direction of the arrows;

' v fed. In the embodiment shown in the drawings,

1" the machine from the vibratory effect of said A reciprocations;

, To provide a roller hardener machine in which the upper rollers are free to revolve about their respective axes and. which includes means for reciprocating said rollers in a direction parallel to their axes and in which the lower rollers are driven to move conveyor aprons but cannot move in a direction parallel to their axes;

To provide a roller hardener machine in which the reciprocatory motion of adjacent upper rollers parallel to their axes is 180 out of phase;

To provide in a roller hardener machine improved means for jointly and selectively varying the pressure applied to the batt, the amplitude of the reciprocatory motion of the upper rollers parallel to their axes, the speed of said reciprocation of the upper rollers, and the speed of rotation of the lower rollers driving the conveyor aprons;

These and other features and objects of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred 7 embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts as will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described and the scope of the application of Which will be in dicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. l is a plan view of a machine embodying the invention showing a portion of the feedarrows;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows with certain parts cut away;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic showing of the lower rollers adapted to be used in the machine of Fig. 1 and suitable means for driving the same;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale cut longitudinally through one of the rollers;

of bearing blocks 27.

asmay readily be "seen from Figs. 1 and 2, the

machine comprises two units each of which has four upper and five lower rollers. It is to be understood, however, that the machine may comprise but one unit or as many units as is desired for the circumstances under which it is used. It is advantageous, however, for some aspects of the invention that each unit comprise an even number ofpairs of upper rollers, that is, a minimum of nine rollers.

The frame 22of the machine is firmly mounted on substantial foundations 23 as is clearly .shown in Fig. 2 and, as shown in Fig. 1, has

mounted adjacent to it a feeding table 24 and a receiving table 25. The various prime movers,

clutches, brakes and other :driving mechanisms all of which will be described more in detail hereinbelow may be mounted on separate foundations or, if desired, upon a foundation or base made integral with that for the main part of the machine.

The housings 2B for the bearings for upper rollers 20 are mounted on frame 22 by means 7 As is shown in Fig. 1, the shafts 28 of upper rollers 20 extend at one 4 of their ends beyond bearing housings 29 which as is more fully described hereinbelow, impart a reciprocating longitudinal motion to the upper rollers 20 towhi'ch they are connected. Thrust bearing housings 29 are arranged so that the j ones for alternate'upper rollers 20 are on the same side of frame 22.

As is most readily seen in Figs. 4 and 5 bearings 30 for shafts 3| of lower rollers 2| are mounted in yokes 32 which are moveable in an of belts or chains 36 as is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 7, driven from a shaft 31 in turn driven by a motor or other prime mover 38. It is to be understood that any driving arrange- :ment which drives all of lower rollers 2| in the same direction and at the same speeds maybe substituted for the arrangement shown in Fig.

- the receiving table rollers 39 shaft 31.

'7. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, one of is mounted on The material F to be hardened passes between the sets of upper rollers 20 and lower rollers 2| in a direction from, say leftv to right, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 12 and right to left as viewed in Fig. 4. Material F is carried on a conveyor apron B which passes through the machine and between the upper and lower rollers. In someinstances it may. be. desirable. or s; th ma eri .Efihm driving chains or belts 38 arrangedas shown-in Fig. 7.

As was stated above the weight of compensating weights 6| and the number and stiffness of springs 12 are chosen with respect to the weight and speed of reciprocatory motion of a pair of upper rollers 20 to constitute a mechanically balanced compensating system 180 out of phase with the reciprocation of its rollers so that a minimum of vibration is transmitted from rollers 28 to frame 22 and other parts of the machine. When the speed of reciprocation of upper rollers 20 is changed, the natural period of vibration of the compensating systems comprising weights GI and springs 12 must be changed. This can be accomplished by arranging springs 12 so that one or more of them may be readily removed. As is shown in Figs. 9 and i1, eight springs 12 may be used and, as is shown in Fig. 10, any of the eight may be readily removed by unscrewing respective stud 10 on oscillator yoke 50 and removing the spring. The actual number of springs 12 used for each oscillator yoke on a particular machine is not critical but should be chosen so that the removal of one or more alters the natural period of the compensating system to correspond to the desired and predetermined reduced speeds of reciprocation of upper rollers 20. However, the number of springs 12 for each oscillator yoke 50 or 5| should be .sufiicient so that several of them can be removed without having an arc of over about 90 between any of the remaining springs.

Hydraulic couplings 45 are interposed in the driving train between motors 43 and eccentric cranks 49 or 51 to prevent any momentary shock and resultant injury to motors particularly during the periods of starting and stopping the machine.

When the machine is in operation and motors 43 are started the reciprocation of upperrolle'rs will not come up to full speed immediately. During this period and up through the resonant point of the springs, instead of 180 out of phase with the reciprocating system, the compensating masses stay in phase with the motion of the rollers. Under short strokes the acceleration period is so brief that no difliculty is experienced in passing through this resonant period; At longer strokes it is sometimes necessary to hold' the weights in some manner until the rollers have reached full speed and then to release them; The compensating masses immediately take the opposite 7 and compensatin stroke to the rollers. When motors 4-3 are stopped, however, the mass of the pairs of upper rollers 20 is so great that it takes'an appreciable length of time'for them to stop reciprocating. During this time of deceleration, the system passes through the resonant period of the springs, at which point the load forces are at a maximum. Any prolonged period of this excessive vibration could resultin damage to the machine. To prevent this, magnetic brakes 59 are mounted: on shafts 48 and 56 and thuscutdownthe length of time of the in-resonance period to a minimum, V A justments in the speed of rotation of lower rollers 2| are accomplished by adjusting the sp ed of motor 38 or other prime mover used for this purpose. Adjustments in the speed of reciprocation of upper rollers 20 may be accomplished by adjusting the speed of motors 43', the gear ratios of gear assemblies 46 and 54 or the ratio L of the sprocket wheels s". 5-

or pulley for chain or belt 8 The amplitude .of the reciprocation of upper rollers 20 is dependent upon the throw of eccentrics 49 and 51 and, therefore, may be adjusted by changing the throw of those eccentrics or replacing them by other eccentrics having the desired throw.

The pressure exerted on the material F may be varied, as explained above, by changing the pressure of the fluid introduced into pressure chambers 42. An increase in pressure of this fluid increases the pressure on the material F. It is iurther possible by proper connections and reducing valves (not shown) in a multiple unit machine to apply a difierent pressure on the material F when passing between the rollers of the other units. a

In order to grip aprons B or material F positively and to transmit efiiciently to the material F the reciprocatory motion of upper rollers 20, both upper rollers 28 and lower rollers 2| have circumferential grooves cut in them. These grooves may be of the same shape for upper rollers 28 and lower rollers 2| and are shown at 82 in Fig. 8 for, by way of example, an upper roller 20. They may be milled or formed in any other suitable manner on the rollers but it is essential that the edges 83 formed at the surface of the rollers by the grooves be sharp in order to grip the apron B or material F in a positive and eiiicient manner. The'mode of operation of a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention is best described by reference to Fig. 12. In the example represented by this figure two b-atts are =hardened at the same time, but it is to be understood thatthe machine may also be operated with only one batt or with a larger number of batts than than two such as six or eight. Further in the example represented by Fig. 12 only one apron B is used although, as stated above, in some instances it will be found desirable to use an apron'both above and under the material F.

Apron B is a continuous apron which may be of any suitable material such as canvas or burlap which presents a sufliciently rough surface to cause the batt to cling to it. Apron B passes around roller '84, over series of feed table rollers '85, under .roller86, over another series of feed table rollers 81, between upper rollers 20 and lower rollers 2|, over receiving table rollers 39, around roller 88 and back to roller 84.- Power is applied to one or more receiving table roller 39 and to lower rollers 2| as explained above. Rollers 84, 85, 81, 2!, 39, and 88 all rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 12. Roller 86 and upper rollers 20 rotate in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in that figure. No direct power is applied to upper rollers 20, their rotation being caused by frictional drive from contact with the material F or an upper apron, if used. When necessary there may be added in any convenient place adjustable take-up rollers (not shown) to overcome any stretching of apron B. The same result may be accomplished by h-avlngeither'roller 84 or roller 88 mounted in its respective bearing so that it may be moved lengthwise of the machine so that the path of travel of apron B maybeshortened or lengthcried as desired.

One b'att'of the material F wound on a roll 89 is placed on apron B on feeding table 24 propy arranged and aligned so that the material will be unwound and travel along with apron B 1 were 4; new es of the mat-em F wound; on a roll 904 ers 2|. Holl- 9l carrying a separator-cloth S is placed; on apron B between rollsfflt and 90 so that the separator cloth unwind-s and is carried along on top of the material I?! that was wound on roll 89, After passing roll 99 there are now on, feed table 24; several layers which from the bottom to the top are apron B, material F from roll 89, separator S, and, material F from roll 50. They pass between, upper, rollers and lower rollers 2| in this arrangement;

Situated conveniently and built into feed table 24 in any desired manner is' a steam bath 92. The above described layers are pulled through bath 92 by reason of roller 8 6:which is depressed below the surfaceof feed table 24. Steam bath 92 may take any desired. form into which steam is-brougihtinto contact with the material F.

Afterpassing through steam bath 92; they layers travel over rollers 81 on feed table 24v and finally enter. the main portion of the machine being drawn between upper rollers 20 and lower rollers 2!. It is to. be noted that since the axes of upper rollers- 20 and lower rollers 2 l= are not in the same vertical planes that the layers in passing between them follow a wavy or sinuous path. When a machine comprises several units as in the embodiment described herein the above described layers pass from the first unit to the second and so on until they emerge on receiving table 25.

Receiving table 25 is equipped with rollers 39 over which apron B and the layers it carries are passed. Several wind-up rolls are placed on receiving table 25. In the present example roll 93, placed closest to the main part of the machine is arranged to wind up material F, now hardened, from feed roll 9|, roll 94 is arranged to wind up separator S and roll 95 is arranged to wind up material F, now hardened, from feed r011 89. Apron B as above stated continues on around roller 88.

In the embodiment discussed above two batts of material are hardened at the same time. Should it be desired to harden more than two batts at the same time, additional feed rolls carryin-g batts and similar to r-olls 89 and 90 are placed on feed table 24 with a roll for a separator cloth between each. Similar provision of additional wind-up rolls is made on receivin table 25. The important consideration is that the layers passing between upper rollers 20 and lower rollers 2: from the bottom up are apron, material, separator, material, and so on with a top apron, if used, on top.

We claim:

1. In a felt hardening machine a plurality of rollers arranged in pairs with a roller of one pair interposed between the rollers of the adjacent pair and disposed to exert pressure on the material to be worked on as it passes said rollers, means for imparting a reciprocatory motion to said pairs of said rollers comprising a driving yoke attached to driving means, a bearing housing containing a thrust bearing and a bearing surface on which one end of the shaft of each roller of said pair rests and with respect to which it is capable of rotating and a connection from one portion of said yoke to the bearing antenn 2. Ina felt hardeningv machine having a plurality of pairs, of rollers in which the rollers of each, of said pairs are alternately spaced with the rollers of another of said pairs, a pair of bearings for each of said rollers fixedly mounted on'the; body of said machine, a single thrust bearing for each of said rollers moveable transversely withrespect to said machine, a yoke connecting the thrust bearing for one roller of each of said pairs to the other roller of its pair, an eccentric crank, member pivotally connected to each of said yoke membersand means for driving said crank membersto impart reciprocating motion transverse to said machine to each of said pairs of rollers; through their respective yokes and thrust ar n In a felthardening machine having a plurality of pairs of 'rollers in which the rollers of each of said pairs are alternately spaced with the rollers of another of said pairs, a pair of bearings for each of said rollers fixedly mounted on the body ofsaid machine, a single thrust bearing for each of said rollers moveable transversely with respect to, said machine, a yoke, connecting the thrust bearing for one roller of each ofsaid pairs to theother roller of its pair, an eccentric crank member pivotally connected to each of said yoke members, a journal formed in each of said cranks and a metal sheathed resilient bushing rotatably mounted on each of said yoke members forming said connection, and means for driving said crank members to impart reciprocating motion transverse to said machine to each of said pairs oi rollers through their respective yokes and thrust bearings.

4. In a felt hardening machine having a plurality of pairs of rollers in which the rollers of each of said pairs are alternately spaced with the rollers of another of said pairs, a pair of bearings for each of said rollers fixedly mounted on the body of said machine, a single thrust housing for one roller of a pair and a connection from a second portion of said yoke to the bearing housing for the other roller of said pair.

hearing for each of said rollers moveable transversely with respect to said machine, the thrust bearings for one pair of rollers being disposed on one side of said machine and the thrust bearings for the adjacent pair of rollers being disposed on the other side of said machine, a yoke connecting the thrust bearing for one roller of each of said pairs to the other roller of its pair, an eccentric crank member pivotally connected to each of said yoke members, means for driving said crank members to impart reciprocating motion transverse to said machine to said pairs of rollers through their respective yokes and thrust bearings, said driving means including means to reciprocate adjacent pairs of rollers substantially out of phase.

5. In a roller hardening machine means for driving a pair of rollers in a reciprocating motion in the direction of their respective longitudinal axes comprising'a variable speed prime mover adapted to rotate a shaft, an eccentric fixedly mounted thereon, an eccentric crank rotatably mounted on one end on said eccentric, a journal adjacent the end of said eccentric crank distant from said end mounted on said eccentric, a yoke member, a metal sheathed resilient bushing rotatably mounted in said yoke member and adapted to rotate within said journal, a thrust bearing for each roller of said pair fixedly connected to said yoke and supporting one end of the shaft of each of the rollers of said pair and means for maintaining the alignment of said rollers.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which said 11 eccentric is an adjustable compound eccentric whereby the distance of the reciprocating. motion of said rollers imparted by said eccentric crank can be altered.

7.- In a felt hardening machine having a plurality of upper rollers and a plurality of lower rollers means for reciprocating alternately spaced upper rollers in the direction of their respective longitudinal axes and similarly reciprocating the upper rollers adjacent each of the aforesaid alternately spaced upper rollers but 180 out of phase therewith comprising a thrust bearing for each of said rollers, a connection between the thrust bearing f0 reach of said alternately spaced upper rollers and a common driving means and a connection between the thrust bearing for each of said adjacent upper rollers and a second common driving means operating 180 out of phase with said first driving means.

8. In a felt hardening machine a first, a second, a third and a fourth upper roller, at least five lower rollers, means for passing the material to be hardened between said upper rollers and said lower rollers, a pair of bearings and a thrust bearing for each of said upper rollers, a yoke disposed on one side of said machine for connecting the thrust bearings for said first and '12 third upper rollers, a second yoke disposed on the other side of said machine for connecting the thrust bearings for said second and fourth upper rollers, an eccentric crank pivotally connected to each of said yokes, a metal sheathed resilient bushing on each of said yokes forming such connection and means for driving said eccentric cranks simultaneously in opposite directions.

BELA FREYER.

GILBERT J. SANFORD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,716,401 Wheeler June 11, 1929 1,984,701 Reynolds Dec. 18, 1934 2,093,709 Casse Sept. 21, 1937 2,169,372 Pecker Aug. 15, 1939 2,203,409 Franz et a1. June 4, 1940 2,457,784 Slayter Dec. 28, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 344,299 Great Britain Mar. 5, 1931 

